The Alpha King's Contracted Luna by Nelson Claudia

hapter 15

-Ava’s PON-

The rooms was colder than it had been just a moment ago The ughter between Isabella anddied instantly as

soon as save what was happening in front of me. My stomach twisted, and my feet froze to the floor.

Liam and Elaine.

Having sex.

Right there, in the bar Grayson probably used more than anyone else.

| couldn’t look away, though | desperately wanted to. They scrambled, rushing to pull their clothes on. My eyes

flicked to the floor, my heart racing as the room filled with awkward tension. | could feel the beat rising in my

cheeks as | stood there, watching them fumble with their clothes like two teenagers taught sneaking around. The

embarrassment wasn’t mine to feel, but it clawed atnonetheless.

Isabella, though, didn’t seen fazed at all. A slow, amused smile crept onto her face as she stepped forward, eyes

dancing with mischief.

“Well, isn’t this interesting?” she squealed, her voice light and teasing.

Liam, still buttoning up his shirt, cleared his throat He was trying to regain ssemblance of control, but the

moment was 100 far gone. The way he straightened his back, attempting to seem unaffected, only made the

scene more ridiculous. Elaine, on the other hand, wasn't trying to hide her irritation. She was glaring atlike |

was the problem here, like | wi

the intruder.

Which, technically, | was, but that wasn’t the point,

Her eyes narrowed, lips pulling into a tight, angry line. She didn’t likebefore, and now this? Now, | was sure

she hated

me.

The silence hung in the air, thick and suffocating, like the weight of what we'd just walked in on was sinking into

the very walks of the root

Isabella broke the tension first, her voice slicing through the awkwardness. “Well, is anyone going to say

something to ease the tension in here?”

That was enough to set Elaine off. Her lips curled into a sneer as she took a step toward us, her words dripping

with venom. “Who the hell are you?”

She didn’t wait for an answer, though. Her gaze flicked to me, eyes filled with disgust. “This is what happens

when we let strays in. They bring in their kind.”

| blinked, caught off guard by the blatant insult. My heart thudded harder, not from fear but from the irritation

that had been bubbling under the surface since the moment | stepped into this place. | hardly knew Liam, and |

sure as hell didn’t care about Elaine about what her problem was with me. But this

This was a new level of low.

“Now, wait a minute Isabella started, but before she could finish, Liam finally spoke.

He cleared his throat, still avoiding my eyes. “I apologize that you had to see that, but Grayson must not find out

about this.”

Isabella burst into laughter behind me. “Why would the Alpha king care if you're banging swoman with

serious attitude problems?”

111

Chapter 15

Elaine didn’t even flinch at the insult. Her eyes gleamed as she teased her hair over her shoulder, her voice

dripping with superiority: “Because I'm his cousin, you disrespectful little twat

Isabella didn’t miss a beat. “So you agree you have attitude issii Might | add an irritating voice to the mix?”

Elaine’s face flushed with rage. Before she could spit out whatever insult was perched on her tongue, | stepped

forward, raising a hand between them. | had to put a stop to this before things got worse. | wasn’t in the mood to

deal with the mess this could turn into.

“Okay, enough,” | said, looking directly at Liam. “We won't say anything, | promise.”

Not that | cared in the first place. Everyone's business was their own. | had bigger issues to worry about.

For a second, | thought that might be enough. That maybe we could just leave and pretend this never happened

but then Elaine stepped forward, eyes burning with a fresh wave of anger!

“Who gave you permission to think you have the right to act all light and mighty?” she snapped. “You think

you're so important that your promise to keep your mouth shut actually matters? You're nothing here. You're

insignificant. You'll keep quiet because you're nobody.”

That was it. | had been holding it in all day, swallowing down the irritation, the snide remarks, the stares. But

now? Now, | was done. | couldn't hold back anymore.

| turned to face her, my pulse pounding in my ears. “What the hell is your problem with me, Elaine?” | asked, my

voice sharp and cutting. “I've been here for what, a day? And ever since | arrived, you've made it your personal

mission to makefeel like crap. I don’t know you, and you sure as hell don’t know me. So whatever your issue

is with me, you can shove it.”

Elaine’s eyes widened, clearly not expectingto snap back. “Excuse me?”

“No, you don’t get to play the victim now,” | said, stepping closer my voice steady despite the adrenaline rushing

through me. “You've been treatinglike trash since the moment we met. And for what? Because you think

you're better than me? Because you think | don’t belong here? Newsflash: | don’t care what you think. But what |

won't tolerate is you talking downl tolike I'm beneath you.”

Elaine’s lips twitched, anger flashing in her eyes, but | wasn't finished.

“So here’s what's going to happen,” | continued, crossing my arms over my chest. “You're going to stay out of

my way, and 11 stay out of yours. You can keep your attitude, your snarky comments, all of it. But if you ever

talk tolike that again, | won't hold back.”

Isabella let out a low whistle behind me, clearly impressed. Elaine’s eyes blazed with fury as she stepped

forward, closing the space between us. Her nostrils flared, and for a moment, | thought she might actually try to

hit me. But she stopped just short, her face so close | could feel her breath. Her voice was a low hiss. “You think

you're tough? You think you can waltz in here and speak tolike that?”

| stood my ground, refusing to flinch under her glare. | wasn’t going to let her intimidate me. Not now. Not ever.

“I'm not here to be tough.” | replied, my voice cold and steady. m here to survive. But if you want to push me,

Elaine, I'm not afraid to push back.”

Her lips curled into a sneer, and she opened her mouth to spit something else out, but Liam, who Had been

silent up this point, finally stepped in

until

“Enough,” he said, his voice firm but not loud. He placed a hand on Elaine’s arm, pulling her back a step. “This

isn’t helping anyone. Ava, we're done here. You and your friend should leave

Elaine ripped her arm out of his grasp, still glaring atlike she wanted to burn a hole through my head. “She's

nothing. She shouldn't even be here,” she muttered, but Liam shot her a sharp look.

21:54

Chapter 13

Dec

“That's enough. His voter dropped lower, a tone of finality in it,

“I was done talking to her anyway.” Elaine crossed her hands with a mocking tone. The tension in the room was

thick enough to cut with a knife, and | could feel my hands starting to shake, not from fear, but from the

adrenaline still coursing through my veins. 1 wasn’t going to let her get the last word.

“You don't get to decide who belongs here and just because you have stitle or connection doesn’t mean you

can treat people like they're beneath you. You're not better than anyone. Least of all me.”

Elaine’s mouth twisted in anger, but before she could respond, Habella clapped her hands together, breaking the

suffocating silence that had filled the room.

“Well, this has been fun,” Isabella said brightly, clearly amused by the entire situation. “But we are going to grab

a couple of bottles from GRAYSON'S bar and then leave

Liam's jaw tightened at the way she mentioned his name, and Elaine's eyes flicked to him, a trace of panic

crossing her face. | couldn't help but wonder what the hell their deal was. Why was the so afraid of him finding

out about this? Was it really just because they were cousins? Or was there something deeper, something they

were hiding?

“Let's go.” | said to Isabella; turning toward the door.

Isabella winked at Elaine, throwing her a smug grin. “Try not to let your voice get any more irritating, yeah?” She

turned to me, the pride in her eyes unmistakable. “Now, where's that alcohol we were after?”

Just as the words left her mouth, the atmosphere shifted. A chill ran down my spine, the air around us growing

unnervingly still, I didn’t know how or why, but somehow, | felt him before 1 even heard his voice.

“What is going on here?”

The cold, commanding voice sliced through the tension like a knife. | turned to face the doorway, my breath

catching in my throat. Grayson stood there, his figure dominating the space, every inch of him radiating power.

His icy gaze was locked on me, the intensity of it freezingin place.

Before | could even think of how, Isabella spoke up-completely unbothered by his presence. Her next words

shattered the fragile silence and sent the room into absolute chaos.

“Oh, nothing much. Lilian and | just walked in on them... fucking